Mohiuddin produced before court : Prays for approval of banned Bijoy TV
Staff Correspondent
The detained Chittagong mayor A B M Mohiuddin Chowdhury on Tuesday made a clean breast before a trial court that he went for direct transmission of the satellite channel Bijoy TV after being failed to procure its approval from the authority concerned despite repeated efforts.
"Me Lord I again pray to the court for approval and to keep continuing transmission of the Bijoy TV " Mohiuddin Chowdhury also principal accused in commissioning private TV channel graft case told this before the Divisional Judges' trial court .
Mercury drops : Cold wave likely next fortnight
Staff Correspondent
The mercury is slowly dropping ushering a moderate cold wave in the country with its own feature.
City dwellers started to feel slight chill since Monday with heavy fogs but it is felt to the backbone when mercury further dropped today.
City residents were seen to clad in with wormed cloths today.
Weather officials forecast the intensity of the cold wave is likely to feel by the second half of the current month .
This year winter has not come as usual as the nature of weather has bit changed in the backdrop of tropical cyclone SIDR that hit the country’s southern coastal parts of the country.
Dacoity in broad daylight in city valuables looted
Staff correspondent
Armed robbers looted valuables worth over Tk 4.5 lakhs and a mobile set from the residence of a ship breaking businessman at Saraipara in Sagarika Road in broad day light on Tuesday morning.
A band of four robbers first pressed the calling bell of the residence of Didarul Alam and entered into the house at around 11 as soon as his domestic aide opened the door.
The robbers then took all the inmates – housewife, one daughter and the domestic aide hostage at gun point and swooped into the house.
CCC ascertains 3893 temporary Staff now working
A list of 3893 temporary and work-charged staff of the Chittagong City Corporation was handed over to the Acting Mayor M Manzur Alam yesterday by its Secretary AKM Khairul Alam at formers office chamber. During the period of handing over the list, among others Chief Accounts officer Narayan Chandra Paul, Law officer Sarwar-e-Alam, City Planner Rezaul Karim and audit officer Md. Saifuddin were present on the occasion.
Women entrepreneurs to survive through competition: Hossain Jamil
Divisional Commissioner of Chittagong Hossain Jamil Tuesday said, as women comprise half of total population, the development of the state is not possible keeping them apart, says a press release.
“ The economic GDP growth can be raised if they can be transformed into skilled workers” he added.
He made this observation while opening the Old Circuit House Replica Pavilion at monthly long 1st Women’s SME Expo Bangladesh’ 07 at Railway Pologround School Ground in Chittagong yesterday.
National News
EC to request HC to resolve issue of dialogue with BNP by Dec 13
UNB
The Election Commission would decide on its own whether or not to enlist the stranded Pakistanis as voters if the Home Ministry does not take a decision shortly about the people caught in limbo since Bangladesh’s independence in 1971.
Meanwhile, the EC would request the High Court to resolve the issue of holding dialogue with BNP by ecember 13, as the HC has put it on the hold amid squabbling between two factions of the immediate-past
ruling party in the interim period.
General Ibrahim floats Bangladesh Kalyan Party
UNB
Former army officer and freedom fighter Maj.General (Retd) Syed Mohammad Ibrahim, Bir Protik, floated a new political party named ‘Bangladesh Kalyan (welfare) Party (BKP)’ with an avowed aim of building a new Bangladesh.
General Ibrahim, who went on early retirement in June 1996, declared the name of the new political party at a press conference at the convention center of Hotel Imperial this (Tuesday) morning.
Nine Bangladeshi military officers help relief operations from US naval ship
UNB
Nine Bangladeshi military officers have helped conduct relief operations ashore in aid of the cyclone-stricken people while serving aboard US naval ship Kearsarge anchored off the coast of the Bay of Bengal. Bangladeshi officers embarked the ship to serve as liaisons between Kearsarge, relief groups and relief-distribution centers, an American Center release in Dhaka said Tuesday.
“The Bangladesh liaison officers have been instrumental in carrying out the relief effort over the past eight days,” said Marine Capt. David Pope, a CH-46 Sea Knight helicopter pilot from the embarked Marine Medium Helicopter Squadron (HMM) 261. “They helped out tremendously by coordinating with Bangladeshi military forces on the ground to ensure the landing zones were clear.”
Global News
Benazir, Sharif to set joint demands
AP, Islamabad
Former Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif's politician brother faced possible arrest Tuesday over murder charges dating back to 1998 after both brothers were excluded from upcoming parliamentary elections.
An anti-terrorism court in Lahore issued contempt notices to two police officers for not arresting Shahbaz Sharif for having allegedly ordered security forces to kill suspected criminals in a shootout eight years ago, when he was chief minister of Punjab province, the state-run Associated Press of Pakistan reported Tuesday.
The move against Shahbaz Sharif came after election officials on Monday rejected Nawaz Sharif's own candidacy for Jan. 8 parliamentary elections on the ground that he had been convicted in two cases stemming from a 1999 military coup in which current President Pervez Musharraf overthrew his government.
Myanmar junta frees 8,500 prisoners
AP, Yangon
Myanmar's military government has granted amnesties to 8,585 prisoners as a gesture to the United Nations and to celebrate progress on its long-awaited constitution, state media said Tuesday.
It was unclear, however, if any of the released prisoners were among those detained when the junta cracked down on anti-government protests in September, sparking global outrage and a series of visits by U.N. officials.
Among those released were a dozen political prisoners, none of whom was detained in the recent protests, said Nyan Win, a spokesman for the opposition National League for Democracy.